By Jonathan Collins

Oct. 1, 2005—In early 2001, Wal-Mart joined a fledgling research effort at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to support the development of the Electronic Product Code, a low-cost radio frequency identification system designed to track goods globally. Across the Atlantic, Marks & Spencer, one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom, was examining the possibility of putting RFID tags on reusable trays in its supply chain. Both companies began field trials a year later, and today, both are rolling out RFID technology in stores and distribution centers. But the two retailers are taking vastly different approaches.

Wal-Mart, of course, required its top 100 suppliers to put UHF EPC tags on pallets and cases beginning in January 2005, and it has set an ambitious goal of having all suppliers ship tagged pallets and cases by the end of next year. The retailer has deployed interrogators in three distribution centers and more than 125 stores so far, to better manage inventory and reduce out-of-stocks.

Europe is taking a different road to RFID adoption.

Marks & Spencer, by contrast, has eschewed UHF EPC technology and the tagging of pallets and cases in the supply chain. Instead, it put 13.56 MHz tags on more than 3 million reusable trays to improve productivity in its grocery supply chain. It's also using proprietary UHF technology to tag individual clothing items, to improve on-shelf product availability.